This blog is now becoming time warped with a mix of past and present events, as I go through old photos from March to September and capture some regular events.
After a three year gap, we did go play Holi in 2023.
It was great to be in a large crowd of strangers enjoying the colors. We had Jr. join us as she was on spring break, if I remember right.
Looking back, we had a great time in Foster city with friends. A large multi ethnic crowd, great DJ, amazing atmosphere.. smiling faces! What more can you ask for?! We could always wish the little one had joined!
That hazy effect is because of the color powder on the iPhone camera!
Love this festival. We live in a post COVID world now, where booster shots are becoming like flu shots.
Hope we get to celebrate Holi this way in the coming years!
Last year saw us do both Clouds rest and Half dome hikes in Yosemite. This year we had no plans. Two of our yoga teacher friends wanted to hike with us and also test out the RV they are building. So we made a quick plan to go with them to Upper Yosemite falls. After seeing posts and reports on the hike, they decided to bail out and do a shorter hike instead. In retrospect, they made a wise decision!
We were this close to canceling the hike but decided to make a day trip, thanks to other friends who decided to join us.
Woke up at 3:30 AM to make tea for the trip. There is no hiking without Chai! Started the drive before 5AM and we reached at 8:30 AM. After eating breakfast and drinking chai, we started hiking up at 9. The plan was to make it to the top by at least Noon or 12:30. It ended up being a hot day the sun was over us the entire time. We reached the top only at 1:15.
Most of the folks had a face washing session while I decided to take a dip in the very cold water. It was really refreshing. Also the change of clothes was much needed!
We ate the food that was packed. It was windy and scary but we did go down to the falls head view point using the railing.. (you can see it in the video).
Tried my hand at doing yoga poses before and after lunch. As usual San and friends were scared of me trying to balance on one leg on top of rocks.
San was so happy when we made it to the top. Even she found it hard.
Then we made our way back. Our downhill speeds were different. It is hard to pause on the return. The entire thing is rocky and you have to watch every step. The rocks are all slippery and dangerous. The good thing was it was windy and shaded on the way down. Given we all split up, some guy helped take this photo. Folks came down anywhere from 4:35 to 5:45 depending on their ability to go downhill or take breaks on the way.
There was a beautiful rainbow in the middle of the falls.
After practically hopping and running down without much of a break, all our legs were shaking uncontrollably for a good two hours!
Some more photos..
It was a very challenging hike even compared to Half dome because of the sun! The park service does classify this as a hard hike.
A mile into the hike we get to Columbia rock, a view point where we get to see half dome. it is a great spot to take a break and get some photos of the valley!
We started driving back at 6:30 PM after eating food we had packed and came home at 10:30 PM.
A short video of the hike..
Definitely recommend this as a day hike, ONLY if you have been hiking regularly and can handle a steady climb that keeps going for 3 hours straight. Not recommened for beginners or people who have difficulty coming down rocky terrain.
While we struggled through the hike, we enjoyed the company and had a sense of accomplishment after coming back to the parking lot. The hike is 7 miles from trailhead to top and back , but we walked 10+ miles in total. The elevation gain on this one is 3200 feet in 3 miles. So a steep challenging hike.
One more hike in the Yosemite National park checked out. Next year, we will find another interesting hike to do in YNP!
There was a break from social media between March and September. Sadly, this also meant a blog break. Many events, trips, thoughts went unposted. Going to try and catch up over the next few months.
Writing can be cathartic. It can also be a good memory jogger, trying to see what sticks to your mind a few months later!
Here is the first of such posts. The little one graduated high scool and has now settled in college. She is a five hour road trip away and that makes it comforting.
All she has to do is call and I can start driving.
Jr. on the other hand has not had a mention. She should have! She finished her 4 year degree in 3 years and did a summer graduation.
This was because of a deal we made with her. If she finished early, we will support her Masters program, no matter where. Remember, this is a kid who worked hard all summer in 8th grade to jump two levels in high school math. The motivation was a new iPhone instead of daddy's hand me downs.
It is a win win and she is back in California for her Masters. That alone was enough to make me happy.
All she has to do is call and I can start driving.....you get the idea!
When she started at Purdue, I did not go to drop her. Stayed home with my emotional support puppy(aka the little one), while San went and dropped her. My friend went and helped!
Finally the entire family got a chance to see the Purdue campus and participate in the graduation.
The best part was they had a surprise for me. My friend was there again for the graduation!
It was fitting that he was there at the start and the end of that degree.
The graduation ceremony was very well organized. We got to see a very happy Jr. walk with confidence and hope.
Drank some hot cocoa after the graduation before taking off from campus.
My family knows all too well that my best undergrad moments were not in the lecture halls, but sitting under a tree and drinking chai with my friend.
He would invariably challenge me on my grasp (of everything ?!) and always caution me on my jumping to conclusions, generalizing too quickly, forming very solid opinions very fast, only to revert. In short I used to be a fickle minded child and those chai sessions slowed me down for my own good. Apparently not much has changed in 30 years per family. Anyways, I am off topic already.
If there was any takeaway from that previous paragraph, it is :
1. Chai drinking is good for getting an education that you might not get in the classroom
2. It is better to go for Chai than for alcohol as you might actually remember what you learned (not covered in previous paragraph, but good advice given the kids are no longer kids!)
3. It takes a long time to change one's personality!
Got a campus tour the previous evening. Jr. showed us every part of campus she had visited. Nice campus which fits Jr. well. Now we know why she was at home in Purdue!
Got a nice family picture just before the clouds finally gave in and it started raining!
A new beginning for both kids this year..
A short clip of the graduation ceremony..
Wanted at least one girl to do a doctoral degree, but that is a tough sell in this house. We are now into philosophical discussions on the value of a Ph.D in this day and age and "just because you were stupid enough to study forever, doesn't mean .. " type discussions. We live in interesting times and I am continuing to work on the "keep calm and carry on" attitude.
We sincerely hope to see one more graduation picture added to that time series, in a couple of years!
Thanks to all of you who have cheered and supported Jr. all this time!
After two years, this blog is seeing an entry for Navarathri. Last year I happened to be in India for a conference and barely made it back on Saraswathi pooja. I did get to visit a few homes in Chennai last minute to see golus!
As most of you know, we do NOT have a golu (doll display) in our house. I am trying to figure out though if the higher powers (mom) would divine a way for me to start. Given the best years of our kids being kids are gone, maybe it is a moot point now. Hopefully my girls marry into homes that have golus!!
Personally I think families that have no golus because they associate the festival with some past tragedy, may not be the best families to marry into. Will definitely get flamed for this, but one has to voice his opinion when it comes to correlating deaths to not celebrating festivals. The dead are dead. Festivals are for the living! In case I do conk out on some auspicious day or festival, this blog post would hopefully remind my near and dear ones to keep celebrating! Now that the rant is over.. lets move on to positive things!
Bay area golus!!!
They are a treat, as the folks here take it very seriously and do an amazing job. The only thing that beats the doll displays and the enthusiasm of the kids to do their own little side projects is the food ! There was also some singing and instrument playing in many houses and this year I sang 4 or 5 different songs on repeat mode, thanks to whatever I have learned from my carnatic music teacher from Paadarivom Padipparivom!
A cover photo for the blog is a compilation of some of the dasavatharam sets in the golus.
Here is a slideshow of all the beautiful full golus..
Then there are the side displays which are done by the kids for the most part with some adults taking it to a different level. The one of Ramana's ashram and the Murugan atop a custom made hill were mind blowing when seen up close!
and finally, the unique dolls that caught my eye on some of the golus!
Given the number of images for the unique dolls, the slideshow sometimes does not load. You can browse through them at this link.
A lot of our friends are empty nesters now and it was nice to meet some of the kids who had driven or flown in for the weekend.
Matched San's sari color for the most part. She did have some challenging colors this year. This is now becoming a bay area trend as I see more hubbies being forced to wear matching shirts for Navarathri... Hope the men folk don't take me to some alley and beat me up for doing this every year!
Even though we have no golu, we still do Saraswathi pooja like clockwork.
This year for a change I played Vara veena on the flute to commence the "spirit of learning"
Our little saraswathi..
This year we missed our kids who are both in college, but had fun visiting friends, catching up and eating a lot. The after effects of all those good eats caught up finally today, but if history is any guide, things will be okay in a few days!
We really loved Navarathri this year!
My guru gave me a 15 minute music class on Vijayadasami and started teaching me Sree saraswathi Namosthuthe in raga Aarabi and I loved the new start for music learning!
My friend and flute teacher made me play in front of friends and family to get over my self doubt, and that was equally wonderful !
Attended one India golu virtually. That one was twice the size of the biggest one we saw locally!
Here is to Indian festivals!
It is heartening to see good traditions surviving over time!
A big heartfelt thanks to all of you who invited me along with San, encouraged me to sing and gave us all the good eats!
A nice Indian festival to celebrate Ganesha falls on a working day.. a Monday!
Between jugging a car that has to be serviced and work and doing a pooja, Ganesha, the lord of removing obstacles, removed them all one after another.
San made limited edition (read limited quantity) of Kozhukkattai samples and vadai and they were (it is already in the past tense) amazing.
Usually I send selfies to my mom after any Indian festival. This time, posting it in the blog.. because as you can all tell, there is not much hair left.
Between last year and this year, hair loss has been exponential. Folks who have not seen me post anything in months should not be surprised...
Both photos clicked by San.. last year I looked up.. this year didn't even know she was taking a picture. Was just trying to finish the pooja in time so the kids are not hungry. It was good to have both kids home this time to eat dumplings!
Wishing you all a wonderful {Ganesh, Vinayakar, Pillaiyaar} Chaturthi from all of us here!
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 10:17PM ;)
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